Chapter 203: Aether’s Last Line

The deep chime of the referee whistle echoed across the stadium.

Instant silence fell over the crowd, followed by the low murmuring of the officials hovering near the platform edge.

Ophelia dropped heavily to her knees. Her stone armor cracked, falling away in useless fragments that crumbled into dust.

Her uniform was torn, soaked through with blood and sweat, her breathing ragged and heavy.

A short distance away, Kain stood bent over, hands on his knees, panting like a dying animal, his eyes burning with absolute frustration.

The head official stepped onto the stage and raised his right hand.

"TIME LIMIT REACHED! Victory awarded to Kain Draven of Void Blessed Academy on total damage output!"

The Void section erupted into wild cheers. Kain raised his arms, letting out a breathy laugh, though he looked more exhausted than victorious.

Ophelia simply lowered her head, letting her forehead touch the cool granite as she caught her breath.

Before Kain could take a single step in her direction, Lynx was already on the stage.

He didn’t make a sound.

He didn’t issue a threat. He simply walked straight up to Ophelia, bent down, and gently scooped her into his arms. Ophelia’s head rested weakly against his chest, her eyes half closed.

"Sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I couldn’t win."

Lynx looked down at her, his expression calm. "You did exactly what you needed to do."

He carried her off the platform, completely ignoring Kain and the cheering Void audience, and returned to the Aether enclosure.

Laying her down carefully on the medical mat, he gestured for the healers to begin their work.

Ophelia looked up at him. "I couldn’t beat him."

"You didn’t need to." Lynx looked toward the Void lineup on the other side of the arena.

"You made him fight for twenty brutal minutes while carrying a 4x cheat ring. He’s useless for the rest of today."

Ophelia let out a faint, exhausted smile. "Then I guess I did my job."

Lynx nodded. "You did."

The floating arena screen chimed, resetting its display for the next match.

[LIRA VERNE — AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY

VS. VALEN — VOID BLESSED ACADEMY]

Lira stood up slowly from her seat, taking a deep, steadying breath. Her bright emerald eyes sharpened as her pale green, Her strong Wind affinity swirled around her body in tight, cutting currents.

Lynx looked over at her. "Don’t let him catch you."

Lira offered a confident, slight smile. "Wasn’t planning to."

She walked gracefully onto the stage, her boots making no sound against the stone.

Valen entered from the opposite side, flexing his fingers as the obsidian ring on his hand glowed with that same dark, boosted aura.

The referee raised his hand, looking between both fighters. "Begin!"

SWISH!

Lira vanished instantly. A bright green blur cut straight across the arena floor. Valen swung his right fist with ferocious power, but his fist struck empty air.

Lira materialized behind him, her fingers rigid. "Gale Point!"

Multiple compressed, needle sharp wind projectiles shot toward his armor with terrifying velocity.

TING! TING! TING!

Three wind needles struck his back shoulder plate, piercing straight through the metal, while another bit deep into the back of his knee.

Valen grunted in pain and spun around wildly, bringing his hand up to blast a cone of fire but Lira was already gone.

"Where are you?!" Valen roared, sweeping a massive wall of fire across his front.

Lira leaped high into the air, the flames passing harmlessly beneath her. Spinning mid air, she swept her leg in a fluid motion, sending a concentrated, razor thin crescent blade of wind tearing down toward his chest.

Valen quickly raised an Earth barrier to block it.

BOOM!

The wind blade sliced more than halfway through the solid stone, sending rock splinters flying into his face. Valen’s eyes widened in shock.

By the time the barrier crumbled, Lira had already landed lightly on the granite and blurred out of sight once more.

"She’s too fast!" the announcer yelled over the loudspeakers. "Valen can’t get a lock on her position!"

For minutes, the match proceeded in the exact same manner. Lira never attempted to clash with his boosted physical power directly. Instead, she targeted his joints, his elbows, his knees, the back of his neck, and his shoulders.

Every single time Valen attempted to strike, he hit nothing but the lingering breeze of her movements.

By the 5:00 mark, deep, bleeding wind cuts marred Valen’s armor.

By 8:00, his breathing had grown ragged, his heavy swings visibly slowing down.

By 10:00, his left knee was buckling slightly under the steady buildup of puncture wounds from her wind needles.

Lira’s breathing was growing heavier as well, sweat clinging to her emerald hair, but her smile remained sharp. "You can’t catch what you can’t see."

Valen’s face twisted in rage. "Keep talking, bitch!"

He slammed both hands into the floor. A shockwave of pure Earth energy erupted across the platform.

Massive stone pillars rose everywhere, transforming the open arena into a dense, cluttered stone forest designed to restrict her movement.

Lira’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t panic. She jumped onto a rising pillar, twisted her body mid air to dodge another stone spike, and landed smoothly on the top of the tallest pillar overlooking the stage.

Valen looked up from the ground, sneering. "Nowhere to run now!"

Lira looked down at him with cool eyes. "You forgot one thing."

"What?"

"I own the air."

She pushed off the top of the pillar. Wind exploded beneath her boots like a sonic boom.

Her body transformed into a blinding green streak as she dove straight down. Valen tried to raise his arm to guard, but he was far too slow.

"Gale Point!"

Ten wind needles struck him simultaneously across his forearms and torso. Valen bellowed in pain, swinging his arm wildly in a wide arc.

Lira effortlessly slipped around the clumsy swing, delivering a swift wind slash across his thigh before leaping back into the air.

Another slash. Another strike. Another piercing needle.

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers. "She’s completely controlling the tempo! Valen can’t even graze her!"

However, Lira was paying a heavy cost. Every micro movement consumed precious stamina. Every high speed flash of her Zephyr Step demanded precise concentration and massive amounts of mana, she was fighting an opponent with the x4 boosted ring, so she had to think carefully and fast before she could move.

By 15:00, her chest was heaving noticeably.

By 17:00, the speed of her flashes had dipped by a fraction of a second.

Valen, despite his bloody and battered condition, noticed the subtle change. "There!"

Lira landed on the stone floor, her leg twitching slightly from fatigue. She tried to activate Zephyr Step again, but her body responded a fraction slower than before.

Valen charged, his 4x cheat ring flashing violently on his finger as he threw a boosted elemental strike.

Lira managed to slip past the direct blow, but the overwhelming air pressure of the swing grazed her shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air as she was knocked off balance.

She retaliated instantly, firing a wind needle point blank into Valen’s thigh, forcing him to stagger back with a grunt. She repositioned immediately, but her shallow, rapid breathing betrayed her exhaustion.

19:00.

Valen raised both fists, his ring burning with dark power. 4X.

He exploded forward with a burst of desperate speed. Lira’s eyes widened. She tried to dodge, her Wind affinity flaring around her feet, but her exhausted body couldn’t execute the step in time.

Valen appeared directly at her side, his bloodied face twisted into a mad grin. "Got you!"

BOOM!

His boosted, heavy fist slammed straight into her left shoulder. Lira’s protective wind barrier detonated on impact.

CRACK!

Her shoulder joint dislocated with a sickening pop, the force throwing her sideways. She let out a sharp cry of pain as her body skidded violently across the rough granite.

Valen rushed forward, raising his boot to stamp down on her head. "FINISH!"

Lira looked up through blurred vision. She knew she couldn’t block a direct hit in her state. Making a split second calculation, she channeled the remaining wind in her body beneath her back, blasting herself sideways toward the edge of the arena platform.

She tumbled off the edge, falling straight into the boundary sand pit below.

"BOUNDS OUT!" the referee shouted, raising his hand immediately. "WINNER: VALEN!"

Before Lira could hit the sand, Lynx dropped down from the edge of the platform and caught her gently mid air.

Her entire body was trembling from exhaustion and pain, her left arm hanging awkwardly from her shoulder.

"Lynx..." she gasped out, tears of pain welling in her eyes.

"I’m here," Lynx said softly.

Holding her securely, he braced her joint and set her shoulder back into place with one swift, practiced movement.

CRACK!

Lira gasped sharply, biting her lip. "Ah!"

"Sorry," Lynx muttered softly. He carried her out of the sand pit and walked back toward the medical mats.

Lira rested her head against his shoulder, her voice shaking. "I tried... I couldn’t finish him."

"You fought like a master," Lynx replied quietly. "He’s half dead, his body is torn to shred, and he expended all his ring energy. Rest now."

Lira nodded weakly, closing her eyes as he laid her down gently beside Ophelia.

The massive arena display chimed once more, updating for the final match of the block.

[AVA MUSK — AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY

VS. KIMBERLY VANE — VOID BLESSED ACADEMY]

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the Aether section.

Ava Musk stood up slowly. Her long hair fluttered in the atmospheric currents as intense, violent White Lightning began to crackle wildly around her body.

It wasn’t standard electricity, it was blindingly bright, dense, hyper compressed, and terrifyingly sharp.

Lynx stood nearby, looking at her quietly.

On the opposite side of the stage, Kimberly Vane stepped out.

Void’s Triple S Rank ace stared at Ava with a cold, condescending smile. "I’ve been waiting for this."

Ava stepped onto the stage, her boots sparking with electrical discharge. She didn’t say a single word.

The referee raised his hand, feeling the sheer volume of pressure radiating from both fighters. "Begin!"

CHARACTER ART ARE OUT. VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE THERE.